


Being Carried Bridal Style

by BlueMorpho (caacrinolaas)



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura (Voltron) is So Done, Blood, Fantastic Racism, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Mentions of Other Voltron Paladins, POV Allura (Voltron), Poisoning, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-26 11:19:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19004722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caacrinolaas/pseuds/BlueMorpho
Summary: At least Allura's dress stayed clean.BTHB: Tampering with Food/Drink





	Being Carried Bridal Style

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous asked: "could you do tampering with food/drink with keith?" 
> 
> Pour one out for Shiro for having to dance to shitty alien music while his big brother instincts are going absolutely haywire. This is way longer than I thought it'd be, writing about galra Keith from Allura's POV ended up being so much fun!

If you asked Allura what the only thing worse than a cold planet was, it was an even colder air conditioning system. 

The recently liberated planet Terfola had invited them for a celebration not a day after, even Lance had groaned at the prospect of- and she quotes- "talking to old rich guys about the weather when I could catch up on beauty sleep". Allura had snapped at him at the time, telling him that this was a high honor, but inwardly she agreed with every complaint he had spewed. 

It was incredible the planet's castle was still standing, given that the central city was heavily damaged during the battle. Only higher class citizens and royalty had been invited to the celebration, which Allura secretly found distasteful knowing that most of the population was still displaced. However, it was not Voltron's place to interfere with other planet's politics, so she kept her opinions to herself. 

According to the Tarfolian representative, the King of Terfola declined to show to the celebration. The representative had then sighed and muttered to them that the King was "basically a shriveled corpse on his death bed" and that most of the planet have long considered his daughter to be the leader, even though she wasn't yet designated the queen. 

So in simple terms, this was a very typical setup for a celebration for nearly every mission they've had. Well, except for the fact that Coran wasn't there. 

The Advisor had taken an Altean pod to the nearby swap moon for essentials (and many other things Allura personally categorized as non-essentials), so they decided to land the Castle of Lions directly on the planet to properly lock it up. It wasn't too far away, but enough that the four humans were worn by the time they reached the building and definitely enough to warrant whining from more than one Paladin. 

Allura began delivering her usual cut-and-paste flowery speeches once the celebration began, and her mind began to slip as she fell into the familiar rhythm of diplomacy. It was rare she had to actually concentrate on the words she was saying for most planets. The next thing she knew, they were being seated for dinner. 

The room they were in was on the highest floor of the planet's castle, with a nearly transparent overhead which made it feel as if they were outdoors. The table, front and center under a magnificent mural, was under a bright light that illuminated both the spectacle and where the team was sitting. Large blue pillars loomed around and arched over them, made with a native material that caused them, along with the rest of the room, to glow faintly. 

However, as Terfola experienced prolonged winters, the temperature of its castle was nearly frigid, as each Paladin had made sure complain about at least once. Yet despite the cold, it was an absolutely gorgeous setting, and Allura found she had no complaints of the hospitality they were receiving. 

The array of food was spectacular, plates and silverware lined with sparkling rare jewels as various Tarfolian servants were serving her and the Paladins. It was decidedly much better looking than what they were served at the last planet they were given a celebration for; the entire team had lost their appetites for days, it was an awful mess. 

The Altean Princess thinks she listened to the Tarfolian Princess's speech. Perhaps she did, but it was more likely that she heard the first two sentences and predicted the rest. Her governess would be so disappointed. 

"Now, we may commence!" The Tarfolian Princess shouted, snapping her out of her stupor. She and the other royalty raised the smaller glass and gulped down the entire thing. 

Allura shot a glance at the other Paladins before following suit, thanking them silently for getting the message as they copied her. The drink itself was nearly painful to force down, high levels of carbonation stinging harshly at her throat. 

She was vaguely aware of Shiro asking someone if they were okay, but thought nothing of it as they began to eat. While the celebratory drink was harsh, the rest of the food was delicious and went down smoothly, wiping the traces of the tasteless drink. 

"This dinner you've provided us is absolutely divine." Allura smiled at the end of the table where the royalty sat. "Especially the drink at the beginning, may I ask what that was?" 

"We are very glad to hear this suits your taste. These drinks are very special to our kind, as it contains a substance that is toxic to Galra." Allura's insides froze as the Tarfolian Princess continued. "It is a long-held tradition, a metaphorical act of cleansing our blood of the horrid race." 

Oh no. 

Oh, _no_. 

Allura sent out another silent thanks to her Paladins for concealing their horrified expressions as their gazes flickered to their resident Galran; however, she prevented herself looking back to avoid suspicion. If she, an Altean, thought the carbonation stung... 

The Princess cleared her throat, mind racing. "We are highly honored to be able to participate in such an important tradition to your kind, we can't thank you enough for your wonderful hospitality." 

"But of course! You are our saviors, it is only natural we have you join in with our celebrations." The other Princess smiled kindly, prompting her to smile in return, but Allura hardly heard the words he had said. A bile was rising in her throat that she knew wasn't caused by the toxin. 

Shiro turned to her as the royalty began to talk amongst themselves again, but she beat him to it, placing a hand on his robotic arm and leaning over. 

"There is a dance planned directly after this, which should only be in around five doboshes." She whispered quickly into Shiro's ear. "Keep a very close eye on him. We don't know this planet's stance on half Galra and don't want to risk suspicion if we suddenly dragged him out during dinner." 

The Black Paladin nodded in agreement, before his expression shifted back to concern again. "What if he gets worse in that time frame?" 

Allura peered over to where Keith was sitting slightly doubled over, head in one hand and hair shielding his face. He was picking at the food in front of him but overall the plate looked untouched. "I doubt he will. Considering he can still sit up, I'm assuming it's slow-acting. His human heritage is likely dulling the effects. Tell the others to hurry up with eating so we can start the dance sooner." 

Shiro's mouth turned into a thin line and nodded again before turning back to the younger boy. The other three Paladins were watching the exchange from across the table with worried looks, and Shiro quietly passed on the information while Allura distracted the nearby Tarfolians with empty praises. 

As soon as the meeting was over, Allura discreetly waved off the other Paladins, walking over to where Keith was still sitting and coaxed him to stand up. He managed to get up without any issue, but Allura continued to pretend to hold a light conversation, glancing around in hope that no one was staring. 

Shiro went up to the two of them as she began to direct Keith in the direction of the exit, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder to help guide him. "I'll be back as soon as possible. I-" 

Allura put up her hand to stop him. "I'm taking him back to the castle myself, and I'm going alone." 

The statement had Shiro's eyes widen in shock. He looked between the two of them before looking at her incredulously. 

"But you need to be here! You're our diplomat!" Shiro's tone was uncharacteristically petulant, but it was clear that he was worried. Normally, Allura would pass Keith off to Shiro and go back to the celebration, but this wasn't a normal situation. 

"Do you know how to use a healing pod?!" She whispered sharply. "Coran will not be back at the castle for another two vargas. I can go, start the detoxification process, and rush back as quickly as I can." 

"But-" 

"No buts! I know you're worried, but we don't have time for questions. If you're truly worried about diplomacy, have Hunk join you in my place." Shiro looked like he wanted to protest, but a quick glare had him relent. Allura hooked her arm around Keith's in a subtle form of support and began to walk him out of the ballroom. 

The Altean slowed slightly when she noticed he was beginning to stumble. "Keith, I need you to walk as normally as you can. We are surrounded by nearly hundreds of people." 

He nodded slightly and stood up a bit straighter. Allura smiled despite the circumstances; she knew she could count on him for something like this even when in pain. The Princess faintly wondered if his level of determination was rooted in the near-instinctive Victory or Death mantra, but she shook out the thought. This wasn't the time to ponder such things. 

Fortunately, they left the ballroom without any incident. Once they were in the clear, however, Keith immediately collapsed, nearly dead weight. Allura grabbed him by the arms and lifted him back up before he fell, quickly looking around for any stray Tarfolians. 

"Keith. _Keith_." The Princess tried to stand him upright, but his head insisted on drooping over. "I need to you look at me so I can make sure you can hear what I'm saying." 

Thankfully, Keith looked up at her after a grumble of complaint and oh dear, his eyes were horribly dilated. No wonder he had been shielding his eyes from the harsher light of the ballroom. His skin was noticeably pale and clammy while his breathing was becoming more and more ragged with every breath. 

"Alright. Firstly, what are your symptoms?" Knowing how the poison was affecting him could help Allura know how much time they had. To her dismay, the Paladin's head fell back down again, but he managed to mumble out a response. 

"Uhhh... stomach hurts? 'm tired." 

Could be a sedative, but they had also just had a brutal battle the previous quintant. He was still able to stand, which was a good sign. "Alright. Anything else?" 

No response. Great. Allura set a personal timer in her head based on the symptoms she knew of, secured her grip around the Red Paladin, and began to half-drag, half-walk him back to the castle. 

They only made it down two levels in the building before they ran into a Tarfolian servant, who nearly jumped in shock at the sight of the Altean Princess and the Red Paladin. Allura quickly adjusted her grip so it didn't look as if she was purposefully holding him up, but it was too late. 

"Princess Allura! I am honored to be in your presence." The servant bowed slightly before gesturing towards Keith. "Does the Paladin require medical attention?" 

Allura quickly shook her head. Having Keith be examined by this planet's medical staff while infected with a Galran-specific poison would- as they have already learned the hard way- lead to very, very bad consequences. 

"Ah... you see, humans are very sensitive to... heat. I'm showing him where the balcony is so he can cool off." Perfect execution. 

"Oh no! We are very sorry for this inconvenience. I will go turn down the temperature immediately so none of the other Paladins will overheat." The Tarfolian servant scampered off and out of sight. Allura sighed in relief. 

Next to her, Keith let out a hoarse chuckle. "Sensitive to heat. 's fuckin' negative twenty degrees in here." 

Allura let out a light laugh that sounded bordering on hysterical. "I'll apologize to the other Paladins later." 

And they set off once again. 

Out of all of the symptoms, the one that should have concerned her the most was how Keith was constantly trying to talk to her. Trying being the key word. It was almost as if he gave up before he even told her why he got her attention in the first place. 

Quite honestly, Allura knew she should be a bit more sympathetic, but it grew rather tiring after the first twenty doboshes of dragging him along. 

"'Llura. Uh'llura?" Allura would sigh as the slurred voice next to her piped up once again. 

"Yes?" She would try to keep the irritation out of her voice. It worked less with every attempt. A short silence would stretch before she received a response. 

"Actually... n'vermind." 

And that was the gist of their past thirty or so interactions. It was driving her mad. 

Dirt under her crunched as they left the darkened city, seemingly abandoned as everyone had been temporarily displaced during their battle. They were about halfway through their journey, fortunately the outside terrain was mostly flat as the started to come into view in the distance. 

"'Llura. Uh... 'Lluuurrraaa." This time the tone sounded more urgent, but not enough to alleviate the near-habitual annoyance. 

Allura bit back an exacerbated sigh and turned her head towards the drugged paladin. This was the fifth time in the last three doboshes he had tried to get her attention in the same identical, irritating way. "What is it?" 

"Your... dress. Your dress, I don't-" 

"Keith, please, I really do need you to focus less on my dress and more on walking." Allura glanced around before turning back. "If you can't do that much, I'm going to have to carry you, and I know you d-" 

"No!" As expected. "You... no. Don't wanna be princess carried... b'cause. You're the princess. Not me." 

The Princess in question didn't quite understand what that had to do with being carried, but she figured asking the increasingly loopy Paladin would not get her very far. 

They only made a few more steps before Keith doubled over and Allura's stomach coiled at the familiar sound of retching. She nearly dropped him in surprise, but managed to hold on as she gently brought him to the ground and began to rub circles on his back. 

The first thought she had was hoping it didn't get on her dress. 

The second thought was noting that the emptied stomach contents had a significant amount of red. 

The third thought was realizing that nothing they ate that evening was red. 

And thus, the entire situation immediately went from bad to worst case scenario. The approximate timer she had going in her head just lost more than a few vargas. 

Allura watched in stunned horror as Keith fell out of her steadying hands on all fours, hacking up an unsettling mix of pink and brown, mixing in with the previous fluids. Even in the fading light of dusk, it was beyond awful to witness, but for some reason she couldn't look away. 

The Princess shuffled away against her mind telling her to go forward, comfort him, say something, but she felt glued in place. She has never seen any toxin do something this drastic, and it was even worse to witness this happen to her friend. For something as trivial as the circumstances of his birth. 

Allura was feeling how Hunk must feel on rocky flights. 

How long had he been holding this in? Has he tried to tell her about it before she shut him up? Did forcing him to walk worsen the symptoms? Oh, stars, he had trying to warn her about vomiting on her dress and she had cut him off. 

An itch at the back of her mind was giving her an answer, but she pushed it out. There was no changing the past, this had to be dealt with now. 

This calls for princess carrying. A Princess princess carrying. 

The moment Allura was certain that there was no risk of bloody vomit on her dress, she quickly swooped him up into her arms (receiving a gurgled but clearly disgruntled protest) and began to run as fast as her Altean strength would allow her to. 

She may have snapped at him more than a few times at his garbled complaints, but the Princess was not known to mince her words well in life-or-death scenarios. Well, she was told she wasn't known to mince her words well in any scenario, but that didn't matter right now. What mattered was getting Keith into a healing pod in exactly fourteen doboshes and thirty-six ticks. 

Even with heightened stamina, Allura's arms and legs were beginning to burn as she raced towards the landed spacecraft. When she stopped to get her breath back once they reached the Castle of Lions, the Princess looked down to see that his eyes were heavily glazed over. 

"Keith, can you hear me?" When she got no response, Allura repositioned her arms so she could wave in front of his face. Still no response. " _Quiznak_." 

Ignoring her own screaming lungs, she channeled her fear and anger into her limbs as she sprinted towards the infirmary. She nearly tossed him upright into a healing pod and used one hand to keep him up as she activated the mechanism, the door sliding up in a hiss as it began to run a scan. 

Allura did know how to use a healing pod, that wasn't a lie, but she wouldn't claim to be the master at figuring out what meant what like Coran is. Most of the poison's effects were within the blood and endocrine system, stars knows what a Ghajalkithen is. But what she had advantage in was being able to read and identify the large button that wrote out "Begin Healing Process" in bold Altean writing. 

Hopefully that should fix everything. Typing out a quick message to Coran, Allura felt as the stress began to recede and tiredness began to flow through her body, sighing as she realized she still had to walk back to the party. Why were the Tarfolians so picky about transportation vehicles... 

Closing the console, Allura stared at the reflection of the healing pod where her the dim outline of friend lay unconscious, but wasn't actually looking at anything. Guilt started to churn as the evening's events began to swarm back in a wave, anger beginning to tinge at her throat. 

_None of this would have happened if he wasn't a Galra_ , the sudden hateful thoughts tore through her mind faster than she could stop it, and she shook her head in horror. That line of thinking was past. 

_He doesn't trust you_ , her own mind told her cruelly, _he doesn't trust you because he still thinks you hate him for being a Galra. Which you still do, apparently._

 _I don't hate him for being galran_ , she told herself forcefully, _I'm angry he was harmed because of it._

And she would keep telling herself that until there wasn't a sliver of doubt about it. 

Placing her hand on the healing pod, she recited an ancient prayer under her breath before turning around and began her trek back. She prayed there won't be a next time, not for Keith, not for any of the Paladins. But she vowed to do better either way.


End file.
